Jennifer Donnelly Books In Order

Publication Order of The Tea Rose Books

Publication Order of Waterfire Saga Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Picture Books

Jennifer Donnelly is an American author of young adult epic historical fiction, most known for the Tea Rose and Waterfire Saga series of novels. She has also written a variety of other single standing novels such as the highly popular A Northern Light and a children’s picture book. Jennifer was born in Port Chester in New York State, to parents of Irish heritage. Her paternal grandparents had first settled in the Adirondack County, which is the setting for her debut novel. Donnelly grew up in Westchester and Lewis counties in New York State before attending the University of Rochester majoring in European History and English Literature. She would later move to England, where she attended Birkbeck College, University of London. She currently lives in Hudson Valley, New York with her two rescue dogs, her daughter, and husband.

Upon her return to the United States she moved to Brooklyn in New York and began working on her first work, a picture book titled Humble Pie in consort with Stephen Gammell a renowned veteran illustrator. She would also publish the first of the Tea Rose series in 2002. These novels follow the fictional Finnegan family in its adventures in London during the Jack the Ripper days, to the fomenting of World War I in 1918 New York. Her second novel, A Northern light is what propelled her into the limelight, marking her out as one of the best historical fiction writers to watch. The novel is based on the true story of the Grace Brown’s murder in the Adirondack Mountains in 1906. In 2014, Jennifer Donnelly in conjunction with Disney launched the Waterfire Saga series of novels. These were epic historical novels about six mermaids on an odyssey of trying to save the world from an ancient evil force. Her novels have gone on to receive rave reviews, awards, and plaudits from many sources, including TIME Magazine, Shelf Awareness, and Publishers Weekly. She has won the Borders Original Voices Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Carnegie Medal, and Printz Honor.

As a child, she was never one that loved going to Disneyland instead preferring to visit historical places such as Colonial Williamsburg. She was hooked into history when she was in the third grade when her parents took her to watch Mary, Queen of the Scots the movie, starring Glenda Jackson and Vanessa Redgrave. She loved the intrigue and drama so much that growing up, she pictured herself at the Battle of Agincourt rather than vacuuming floors or doing dishes. Jennifer asserts that she never made a conscious decision to become a writer given that it was always something that was in her psyche. Having had expert story tellers in her extended family and parents who read to her as a child, it was just natural that she would make the logical step from listening to good stories to telling them herself.

What makes her books so fascinating is that she gives it her all; from historical fact right down to character details and single scenes, she has to make everything perfect. She does a lot of research on the books, oftentimes obsessing about historical accuracy, and how to bring together history, her ideas, and imagination into a narrative that is wonderful and exciting. You will often find her thumbing through dusty old archives reading dog-eared letters, notebooks, and diaries listening to tales from another time. This meticulousness to detail she says is what gives her narratives that richness in detail and believability that never fails to fascinate and intrigue readers. After The New York Times declared her second novel rich and true, she set out to create voluminous books that are full of believable stories and human beings. This is what informs her voracious appetite for research into history. For Jennifer Donnelly, there is nothing better for a historical writer than having sufficient knowledge of the facts of the story’s setting. It is the only way to create a compelling and seamless past that earns the trust of the reader.

One of Jennifer Donnelly’s most popular novels, The Tea Rose is set in 1888 East London. This is a neighborhood of light and shadow where the darkest truths meet bright hopes, a killer stalks at night where children played on cobbled streets during the day, and where dreamers, whores and thieves mingle. Fiona Finnegan, the chief protagonist is a tea factory worker with dreams of owning her own shop. She lives with Joe Bristow, her lifelong partner and costermonger’s son. Here they sacrifice, save, and struggle to attain their dreams with hope and their love for each other the only driving force. However, their lives are rudely interrupted when a brutal, dark man destroys everything Fiona holds dear. She packs her bags and flees to New York afraid for her own life. Her indomitable spirit spurring her on, she soon rises from humble West side shop owner to one of the most powerful persons controlling the tea trade in Manhattan. But she never manages to banish the ghosts of her past, and now has to go back to her childhood London. A deadly confrontation with her unpleasant past is inevitable if she is to find peace and a future.

Another epic novel by Jennifer Donnelly is the epic tale of hidden passions and secret love, The Winter Rose. The setting is 1900 North London, where no well-bred woman dares set foot in the grim dangerous streets, if at all they care for their safety. But India Selwyn Jones is not one to be cowed. A woman doctor, she is of a new breed that headstrong and determined to offer her services to the people that have the most need. She saves the life of Sid Malone, a violent and hard gangster who happens to be incredibly attractive. Unlike her aristocratic and cool fiancé, Malone is the polar opposite and a representation of all that she despises. Yet she finds herself irresistibly drawn to him, his hidden mysterious past, and his charm are so enticing that India knows that every day she spends with him, brings her ever closer to that place of no return.

One Response to “Jennifer Donnelly”

1. Phyllis Rasmussen: 2 years ago

   I love your Tea Rose series. Great work!

   I have ordered the Water Series.

   Sincerely

   Phyllis

   Reply